Published on April 6th, 2012 | by Tatterr

Community Beat #22: Black Out? Or Black Ops?

The past few weeks have been quite tumultuous. With Infinity Ward’s creative strategist Robert Bowling announcing his separation from Infinity Ward AND Activison. It came out of nowhere, and no one could really see it coming. Why many thought Mr. Bowling was personally responsible for the flaws in game development I was able to realize he wasn’t and I will miss him. I have no idea who they will task to fill his shoes, or if they will at all but I hope they decide to. It was nice to have a pipeline to the inside even if it was only a small chance the suggestions you submitted may be implemented. A small chance, but better than none at all.

It appears with the loss of the communities mouth piece a new mouth piece has emerged. A much larger one than Robert Bowling, a portion of the community itself. They have risen up and started a movement calling for all those fed up with Modern Warfare 3′s problems to join them on 4/20/12 for a 24hr. Call of Duty blackout.

This scheduled blackout is an attempt by some die hard fans to show Infinity Ward and Activision how serious they are about getting this game fixed. I wish them the best of luck in their endeavors and I may inadvertently join them in their protest. Not because of any serious angst just because my work, life schedule has been so hectic I have been finding it hard to squeeze in gaming. For what it’s worth though I have been enjoying the hell out of the FFA Gunplay playlist and would like to see them continue with new additions, but not lose focus on the core game physics.

With all the Modern Warfare 3 hatorade going around it was nice to get some positive news about the next installment in the series Black Ops 2. Apparently some details on Black Ops 2 were posted on the Activision forum and then swiftly removed. Not before a few people were able to copy the information. Now bear in mind that these details are not confirmed and I make no claim to their validity. Read the article for all the details I will just go over some key points.

It has a tentative release date of November 6th, no more MOAB, no more nukes and no more Death Streaks. Customization (face paint) feature is back and your appearance is no longer dictated by your Perk 1 slot. Appearance is a combination of all perks and type of Pointstreak being used. It seems there is a larger emphasis on hardcore. No one shot toe kills, at least a head or upper torso hit will be required for a one hit kill. Also if severely wounded you will bleed out over time.

Some work has been done to sniper rifles, reduced sway, and zero aim assist. The perk system has been altered slightly and combat training will be returning with improved bot AI. Along with core game mechanic fixes they plan on adding a few new game modes. Escort, a Search and Destroy like game except a live player must be escorted to one of three safe areas on the map without being killed. The match will have rounds, consisting of one life only.

Hopefully a lot of these details are true and if they are it sounds like it should be a pretty solid game. A solid game released along a revamped Elite 2.0 could soothe some of the angst, or just enrage another part of the community. Either way I look forward to seeing you in game.

Tags: Activision, Game Modes, Infinity Ward, Robert Bowling